11.10.2020-April only now on Sunday

11.10.2020

Dear friends,

we have arrived in Rome.

Our day started with a relaxed morning walk through the city of Sutri. Even though there wasn't much to see, I found the many small chapels on every corner of the old town adorable. Unfortunately, the market just outside the houses was being set up, otherwise we would have stayed here a little longer, but our journey continued towards Lake Bracciano. Truly incredibly beautiful, but since there was no sun to be seen today, it was a bit too cold, although I really hesitated because I would have loved to go swimming. So we settled for a nice view and raced at a fast pace to our final destination: Rome.

Surprisingly, we found our parking space without getting lost, well, except for one time, but that was only because there are complicated highway exits and the navigation system doesn't give clear instructions for Italian roads. So we arrived in Rome on a Sunday afternoon, which Papa really didn't want. Whether it was more chaotic than during the week, I can only tell you tomorrow, but it had a lot of capital and tourist attraction vibes.

However, it was raining when we arrived, which was fitting for autumn, so we made an agreement with the gods: From 1pm onwards, there will be sunshine and then we'll go out. That was probably a bit too ambitious, because an hour after noon, it was still raining. But we couldn't waste the whole day, so we quickly got on the tram to eventually take the metro to the Colosseum after some searching. Wow, you know what? We're in Rome. The massive structure that spread out in front of me looked like a photo, I actually had to touch it to be sure that it was real, but the fences and our odyssey for a ticket made it pretty much impossible. After finally getting our information, I could slowly grasp where we were and the numerous times we were asked if we wanted to go inside and take a guided tour finally made me believe it. We damn well are here. But ruins are for tomorrow, today is all about the city. The parrots surprised me when I spotted them on the wall and my excitement is limitless, even though they are not native here and still seem to feel right at home.

Our first stop was at the ancient chariot racing track just to walk across it and then finally wander into the city. First, we entered various churches that crossed our path and there were really some beautiful ones. Hidden, but once you found your way in, it blew your mind every time. The Pantheon was our next stop and holy cow dung, it's just incredible. My first look up and I had to take a step back. The dome was unbelievably impressive, even though it didn't look pompous from the outside and the interior design wasn't very extravagant, but something was pressing on every person who passed through the gates at this place, truly incredible.

Afterwards, our path led us to Piazza Navona, where we strolled briefly and then made our way across the city to the Trevi Fountain. We just had to follow the flow of people and we soon arrived at the artwork. The crystal clear water springing from the white marble was a masterpiece. But the Spanish Steps, which were next on our path, were just stairs and not even particularly impressive. But there were definitely a lot of people.

Since we were both quite tired already, we headed to the next metro station through the beautiful view from Terrazza del Pincio. But that turned out to be more complicated than intended when we noticed that all obvious entrances were closed. Luckily, there was a large gate in a side street that led us downstairs and we arrived unharmed and completely exhausted in our motorhome.

See you soon and I hope your day was as beautiful as mine.